Hotel Bars Are Barcelona’s New Happening Hangouts

Barcelona is one of the partying capitals of the world. There is no dearth of hip and happening destinations where night birds can drink and dance the night away. You can choose from their multilevel nightclubs to the cramped, pulsating cava bars. Yet, of late, Barcelona seems to be going the New York way, with the bars of high-end hotels forming the new scene for Barcelona’s partygoers.

In New York, the party crowd generally heads to the fashionable bars of the city’s many hotels. It helps that NYC’s hotels offer some really snazzy places to hang out at, like Bar d’Eau, the Trump Soho’s pool deck lounge. Now it appears that Barcelona is following suit. Why not, with the city’s hotels housing bars and clubs that score on high style?

This is a trend that began in 2009 says Ricard Sabata, restaurant and bar manager at Barcelo Raval. The hotel’s rooftop bar is a 360-degree wraparound that draws in not just hotel guests but also locals. 40 percent of its patrons are local residents. A similar trend is visible at the thumping Angels and Kings club in Poblenou district’s ME Hotel. The club is located on an open-air terrace and draws several hundred revellers on a regular basis.

There’s more. The Banker’s Bar at the Mandarin Hotel has become a hip meeting place for locals, with the bank vault-lined ceilings and walls adding a quirky effect. And who can forget the popular Eclipse lounge located on W Barcelona‘s 26th floor, where snaky entry queues have become a regular feature. The addresses may be changing, but it’s still party-time in Barcelona.